Second Church of Boston

The Second Church of Boston was where Emerson started and ended his clergical career. He clashed with church hierarchy over his assertion that communion is a meaningless ritual that should be stripped from Christian worship. He then resigned his position and started a new career as a writer.

Harvard University

Harvard University is where Emerson got his college education at approximately the same time as Henry David Thoreau. Harvard was the place where transcendentalist ideas were exchanged between the two.

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive writ issued in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln striking down any legal basis for slavery and paving the road to the Civil War. In one of Emerson's essays (The Emancipation Proclamation), he credits Lincoln with bravery and imagination for his actions. The proclamation came one year after the start of the Civil War in 1861.

Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism...